Validation of the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy Instrument to Assess Quality of Life in Maintenance Hemodialysis-Treated Patients with Cachexia

Abstract Background Cachexia is the ultimate state of many maintenance hemodialysis (MHD)-treated patients. Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT) is a tool used to evaluate the quality of life of patients with cachexia related to various diseases, but its effectiveness in MHD-treated patients has yet to be verified. This study aims to explore the applicability of FAACT in MHD-treated patients.Methods Qualified MHD-treated patients were selected for FAACT and The Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form 36 (KDQOL-36) questionnaire survey, and their demographic data and biochemical test results were collected from electronic medical records. Then, data were analyzed using statistical methods.Results This study enrolled 299 effective patients. The reliability of FAACT and its anorexia-cachexia subscale (ACS) were 0.904 and 0.842, respectively, and their retest exceeded 0.85. A reasonable correlation was found between FAACT and its items, and a reasonable calibration validity was identified between FAACT and KDQOL-36 subscale. FAACT and its subscale ACS showed good discriminant validity in the comparison of patients with different cachexia states and inflammatory states.Conclusions FAACT and ACS have good reliability and validity in MHD-treated patients and are suitable to measure the quality of life of MHD-treated patients with cachexia.